2020 World Figure Skating Championships
| 2020 World Figure Skating Championships | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type: | ISU Championship |
| Date: | 16 – 22 March |
| Season: | 2019–20 |
| Location: | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Host: | Skate Canada |
| Venue: | Bell Centre |
| Previous: 2019 World Championships | |
| Next: 2021 World Championships | |
The 2020 World Figure Skating Championships were scheduled to be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from 16 to 22 March 2020.[1] Figure skaters would have competed for the title of world champion in men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dance. This would have been the first time that Montreal hosted the World Figure Skating Championships since 1932.[2] The competition was supposed to determine the entry quotas for each federation at the 2021 World Championships.
The competition was cancelled on 11 March due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, with the possibility of being held later in the year, but not within the current season.[3][4] It was the second time the event had been cancelled for reasons other than a World War, after the 1961 World Championships were cancelled following the Sabena Flight 548 crash.[5]
The competition was formally cancelled on 16 April, after the International Skating Union (ISU) previously considered rescheduling to later within the year.[6] A year later, Skate Canada successfully bid for the right to host the 2024 World Championships in Montreal in lieu of the cancelled earlier event.[7]
Reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic
[edit]After a spike in COVID-19 cases from the ongoing pandemic and the cancellation of the 2020 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships in Nova Scotia by the International Ice Hockey Federation, the ISU was placed under intense pressure to make a public statement on the status of the 2020 World Figure Skating Championships, as the disease rapidly intensified across the world. The ISU had implemented prevention methods at its events since 4 February 2020 and required all attendees seeking accreditation to complete a questionnaire and temperature check.[8]
Skate Canada, the host federation, issued a statement on Friday, 6 March, that all athletes would be screened for symptoms at the border, undergo health checks, and be required to fill out questionnaires throughout the competition.[9] On Tuesday, 10 March, media, officials, skaters, and coaches scheduled to attend the event received a lengthy Coronavirus Information Package from the ISU. All individuals attending the event would have been required to undergo a temperature check upon arrival to the competition and would have been required to check in under 38 °C (100 °F).[10] The Quebec Health Ministry held a press conference the same day to discuss "all major events in the province...with input from the Public Health Agency of Canada."[10] At the meeting, Quebec Minister of Health Danielle McCann indicated that cancellation was a possibility, but a final decision had not yet been reached, despite athletes being scheduled to arrive within the next few days.[10]
At 3:30 PM EDT on Wednesday, 11 March, the Quebec government and Quebec Health Ministry made the decision to cancel the World Championships.[3] The ISU posted a statement agreeing with the decision, saying that the event could possibly be rescheduled for later in the year, but not before October 2020.[4] It was unclear how the cancellation would affect the upcoming season and its subsequent Grand Prix assignments, which will begin before then.
On 12 April 2020, ISU Vice-President for Figure Skating, Alexander Lakernik, told media that the chances of rescheduling the championship were slim, due to the ongoing pandemic.[11] The ISU confirmed a complete cancellation of the event, with no chance of postponement to a later date, on 16 April.[6]
ISU member nations' response
[edit]Prior to the cancellation announcement on 11 March, the Polish Figure Skating Association asked its athletes on 10 March to make personal decisions by the next day, 11 March, on whether or not to attend the event, following the Polish Minister of Sport's recommendation to avoid travel to foreign events.[12]
Skate Canada, the host federation, postponed several conference calls with its skaters from 11 to 13 March, while awaiting a decision by the local Quebec government on the status of the event.[13]
Several prominent skaters, including two-time reigning men's World Champion Nathan Chen, and coaches Rafael Arutyunyan, Lee Barkell, Marie-France Dubreuil, and Brian Orser, expressed concerns over the possibility of rescheduling the competition to fall 2020, citing the disruption to their training schedules and the proximity to the 2021 edition of the event.[5]
Qualification
[edit]Based on the results of the 2019 World Championships, these nations would have been eligible to enter more than one skater or team in the indicated disciplines.[14]
| Spots | Men | Ladies | Pairs | Dance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |  United States  Japan |
 Russia  Kazakhstan Japan
|
 China Russia
|
Russia United States  Canada
|
| 2 | China Russia  Italy  Czech Republic |
United States  South Korea Canada
|
 France Canada Italy United States  Austria  Germany
|
France Italy
|
Entries
[edit]The International Skating Union published a complete list of entries on 26 February 2020.
Changes to preliminary entries
[edit]| Date | Discipline | Withdrew | Added | Reason/Other notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 February | Pairs |  Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Chris Knierim
|
Jessica Calalang / Brian Johnson
|
Chris Knierim retired. | [32] |
| 5 March | Women |  Anita Östlund
|
Matilda Algotsson
|
Injury recovery | [33] |
| 6 March | Ice dance | Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sørensen
|
Carolane Soucisse / Shane Firus
|
Recovery from knee surgery (Sørensen) | [34] |
| 7 March | Men |  Roman Galay
|
N/a | Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 9 March |  Alexander Lebedev
|
References
[edit]- ^ "ISU 2020 World Figure Skating Championships Announcement". International Skating Union.
- ^ "Skate Canada to host the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2020 in Montreal" (Press release). Skate Canada. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ a b "World figure skating championships cancelled in Montreal". CBC News. 11 March 2020.
- ^ a b "ISU Statement – ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2020, Montreal". International Skating Union. 11 March 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ a b Hersh, Philip (11 March 2020). "Nathan Chen, skating coaches react to cancellation of world figure skating championships". NBC Sports.
- ^ a b "ISU Statement – Definite cancellation of pending 2020 ISU Championships". International Skating Union. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Skate Canada awarded the ISU World Figure Skating Championships® 2024 in Montréal". Skate Canada. 9 June 2021.
- ^ "ISU Statement – Coronavirus – ISU Events season 2019/20". International Skating Union. 2 March 2020.
- ^ "Here's how major events in Montreal are handling COVID-19 concerns". CBC News. 9 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Ewing, Lori (10 March 2020). "ISU clamps down on access to world figure skating championships in Montreal amid COVID-19 concerns". Global News.
- ^ Dolgopolov, Nikolai (12 April 2020). "Лед подождет и дождется" [The ice will wait and wait] (in Russian).
- ^ Tascher, Jacek (10 March 2020). "Ważna informacja dotycząca koronowirusa" [Important information about coronavirus] (in Polish). Polish Figure Skating Association. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Ewing, Lori [@Ewingsports] (11 March 2020). "Quebec Premier (my prvs tweet said health minister) says decision to be announced today on next week's world figure skating championships in Montreal" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Entries for ISU Figure Skating and Synchronized Skating Championships 2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ "ISU World Championships 2020: Men". International Skating Union. 26 February 2020.
- ^ "ISU World Championships 2020: Ladies". International Skating Union. 26 February 2020.
- ^ "ISU World Championships 2020: Pairs". International Skating Union. 26 February 2020.
- ^ "ISU World Championships 2020: Ice Dance". International Skating Union. 26 February 2020.
- ^
- "Skate Canada names teams for 2020 ISU Championships" (Press release). Skate Canada. 19 January 2020.
- "Skate Canada updates ISU Championships teams" (Press release). Skate Canada. 13 February 2020.
- "Skate Canada names final teams for four ISU world championships" (Press release). Skate Canada. 24 February 2020.
- ^ "Joukkue taitoluistelun MM-kilpailuihin" [Team for the Figure Skating World Championships] (in Finnish). Finnish Figure Skating Association. 24 February 2020.
- ^ "Championnat du Monde 2020 de Patinage artistique & Danse sur glace" [2020 World Figure Skating & Ice Dance Championship] (in French). Fédération Française des Sports de Glace. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "Nominierung WM-Mannschaft" [World Cup team nomination] (in German). Deutsche Eislauf-Union. 18 February 2020.
- ^ "British Ice Skating selections to latest ISU major championships". British Ice Skating. 20 February 2020. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020.
- ^ "ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2020" (PDF) (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. 22 December 2019.
- ^ "Daria Danilova/Michel Tsiba en Niki Wories naar WK Kunstrijden in Montréal (15 – 22 maart)" [Daria Danilova / Michel Tsiba and Niki Wories to the World Championships Figure Skating in Montreal (March 15–22)] (in Dutch). KNSB. 24 February 2020.
- ^ "Состав российской команды на чемпионат мира в Монреале" [Russia's team to the World Championships in Montreal] (in Russian). Figure Skating Federation of Russia. 31 January 2020.
- ^ "Olivia Smart & Adrián Díaz representarán a España en el Mundial de Patinaje Artístico" [Olivia Smart & Adrián Díaz will represent Spain in the World Figure Skating Championships] (in Spanish). Federación Española de Deportes de Hielo. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
- ^ "Anita Östlund och Nikolaj Majorov uttagna till VM i konståkning 2020" [Anita Östlund and Nikolaj Majorov selected for the World Cup in figure skating 2020] (in Swedish). Skate Sweden. 24 February 2020.
- ^ "Eiskunstlauf/Eistanz: Selektionen für die ISU Weltmeisterschaften und Junioren-Weltmeisterschaften 2020" [Nominations for the ISU World and World Junior Championships] (in German). Swiss Ice Skating. 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020.
- ^ "ЗАТВЕРДЖЕНО СКЛАД КОМАНД УКРАЇНИ ДЛЯ УЧАСТІ В ЧЕМПІОНАТАХ СВІТУ З ФІГУРНОГО КАТАННЯ" [Composition of Ukraine's World Championships teams approved] (in Ukrainian). Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020.
- ^
- "U.S. Figure Skating Announces Ladies Selections for World and Four Continents Teams, and World Junior Camp" (Press release). U.S. Figure Skating. 26 January 2020.
- "U.S Figure Skating Announces Men's, Pairs and Ice Dance Selections for World, Four Continents, World Junior Teams, and World Junior Camp" (Press release). U.S. Figure Skating. 26 January 2020.
- ^ "Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson added to U.S. World Team". U.S. Figure Skating. 26 February 2020.
- ^ Östlund, Anita (5 March 2020). "Hi everyone! Unfortunately I have decided to withdraw from the World Championships this year" (Instagram). Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
- ^ Skate Canada [@SkateCanada] (6 March 2020). "#Montreal2020 announcement: Ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nikolaj Sorensen have withdrawn from the world championships due to Nikolaj recovering from surgery" (Tweet) – via Twitter.